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#KovsiesCare: UFS takes lead in online adult learning

14 August 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Valentino Ndaba

To thrive in the future, employees need a skill set and mindset that constantly adapts to the fast rate of change. In line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the University of the Free State (UFS) is the first higher education institution to introduce online adult learning.

Digitised learning

Eva Stinani is one of 17 staff members who is currently enrolled for the Adult-Based Education and Training (ABET) Programme through the Department of Human Resources (HR). For Stinani, the programme is gearing her up for better career prospects. “I have come to realise that obtaining a school qualification is important as this will enable me to improve my performance in my work.”

A further 29 staff members are enrolled for the Amended Senior Certificate (ASC). Since its introduction at UFS late last year, the most popular subject stream in the certificate is Business Studies. According to Juanita Burjins, Head: Leadership & Development Division (HR), this “prepares learners to think like business and management-oriented individuals”.

All lessons are conducted online in a computer lab on the Bloemfontein Campus. Plans are under way to roll out these programmes to the South and Qwaqwa campuses. The Leadership and Development Division helps learners to register with the Independent Exam Board (IEB) and uMalusi.

Enhancing livelihoods

The Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) speaks to a staff culture punctuated with high performance and impartiality across the board. According to the ITP, “the future will be “one of excellence and diversity”.

Burjins’s team envisions “maximising the potential of the staff through the acquisition of knowledge and skills, therefore encouraging them to work productively and competitively in order to achieve an improving quality of life”.

Building bridges and breaking barriers

The online adult learning programme provides staff members with the opportunity to enter higher education institutions and become gainfully employed in the world of work.

Nelson Mandela once said: “No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.” Echoing this sentiment, Kovsies is making strides towards developing the country, one citizen at a time.

News Archive

Department of Education prescribes student’s novel to schools

2015-11-03

Ntshala Mahasa: The young storyteller

Three years ago Ntshala Mahase was an ordinary high school learner studying texts prescribed by the Department of Education. Now, other learners will be reading his brainchild, Life out of the Ordinary.

The third-year LLB student at the University of the Free State (UFS) officially launched his debut novel in July 2015 at the Bloemfontein Campus. Three months later, the work of fiction has reached a milestone of note. The novel has been selected as one of 12 books from young and emerging writers to form part of the Library and Information Association of South Africa’s (LIASA) Young Writers Programme.

LIASA is the regulatory body for South African public, school, and university libraries. Ntshala’s literary contribution is to be distributed to different school libraries, as per decision of the Western Cape and Gauteng Departments of Education.

About the book

The book narrates the transformational journey of a privileged suburban school boy who one day coincidently exposes himself to the harsh realities of an impoverished South African community. Tom then decides to make a difference and assist those who are less privileged. His experience out of his ordinary and secured Hyde Park life shakes him to such an extent that he falls into emotional anxiety and depression.

One in a thousand

Out of more than 200 entries, Life out of the Ordinary emerged as the only entry from outside the borders of the two provinces to make a set of 1 000 books recommended by LIASA to be prescribed by public schools as of 2016.

Ntshala was taken aback by the enthusiastic reception which his story attracted. “I am greatly humbled.This means it will rub shoulders with books by great South African authors like Niq Mhlongo, Zukiswa Wanner, Thando Mgqolozana, Zakes Mda and the likes,” he said. He is currently authoring his second novel.

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